To thik that corner was one you wanted to avoid by any means necesarry with all the freaks at that park which used to be a major inncer city bus stop when I was commuting to Ignatius is still mind blowing to me.

With market garden & bar cento there along w/ the WSM & Gr8 Lakes, there may be a huge opportunity for beer themed small B&B type hotel that serves a mean hang over breakfast menu IMhO. Be cool if it had a cooking class style kitchen (think Viking store in Legacy Village) that you could buy fresh ingridinets at the WSM, pick up a growler, and do a meal either yourself or chef for hire and them retire to a sesion at the breweries. Not friendly to get there from downtown after sunset, and you are getting to the point where out of towners may make it a desitnation.

Tailgated at the Muni for the first time in my life and needed something to warm me up. A bomber of Goose Island Nightstalker I aged for 9 months + 4 x-mas ales later, I had a nice trip back home. Oh if you have a chance, find some of this and drink a lot of it:

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Haven't seen it posted (but didn't really look to hard, but is anyone else drinking that Blue Moon special brew "Grand Cru" 750ml?

Fucking fantastic IYAM. Really, it's spectacular for the style.

Wont find anything smoother and tastier at 8.2 either. If it was only cheaper....god damn this habit.

I'm finally getting into brewing myself here in the next 2 weeks...

I figure with the quality of materials available to the home brewer these days compared with years ago, once you love beer enough to allow yourself to spend 3-4-5 dollars or more per 12 oz (not in a bar), its time to test your skills in the arena.

Personally, this time of year I lean towards darker, heavier stuff that is less appealing in the warmer months. Imperial stouts, dopplebocks, oatmeal stouts, big porters, barleywines, belgian quads/dark ales......

EDIT: If you want the best brown ale on earth, find some Hook and Ladder Backdraft Brown. Rouge Hazelnut Brown is fantastic as well, but leans towards the sweet side. Very much a dessert beer, but easy to drink.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Thx. looking fwd to a trip to vintage estates in Boardman to procure some of these.

I've wanted to go there for years and haven't made it down yet. I got Chuck's in Chagrin Falls which is great, but a tad on the expensive side. Still, from time to time they have some ridiculously rare stuff.

BTW - if you have questions or are curious about some of the beers there or beers in general, PM or hit my cell. When I'm not working the job or the relationship, beer, and wine too lately, are things I can talk about for hours. Still haven't brewed my own, but I will be saving that for when I get a hosue.

BTW #2 - NEWS FOR ALL NORTHEAST OHIO BEER DRINKERS. SAM MCNULTY AND HIS GROUP HAVE TAKEN OVER ALL OPS AT WILLOUGHBY BREWING COMPANY. NEW BREWER, NEW LINES, NEW BEER, NEW EVERYTHING. FIRST BEER OUT IS A BLACK RYE. THEY WILL BE IN A PARTNERSHIP TO DISBRIBUTE TO 12 LOCALES IN NORTHEAST OHIO.

I got that 2nd BTW from my brother last night. Him and I are good friends with the gentleman who is the manager/beer rep for 1899 and Ballantine. Privy to all their special beers when they do beer tours and info that usually isn't public knowledge in regards to breweries and brews(they talk to brewmasters and distributors all over the country).

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Ziner wrote:Just tell them not to take the Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls off the menu...damn those things are money.

Post of the year hands down. Been eating those '97 and they are as good now as they were then. My brother used to valet there and at Gavis during high school and would bring those things home once or twice a week. Voted best appatizer in Cleveland god knows how many times. Easy one of my favorite foods on earth.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Thx. looking fwd to a trip to vintage estates in Boardman to procure some of these.

I've wanted to go there for years and haven't made it down yet. I got Chuck's in Chagrin Falls which is great, but a tad on the expensive side. Still, from time to time they have some ridiculously rare stuff.

BTW - if you have questions or are curious about some of the beers there or beers in general, PM or hit my cell. When I'm not working the job or the relationship, beer, and wine too lately, are things I can talk about for hours. Still haven't brewed my own, but I will be saving that for when I get a hosue.

BTW #2 - NEWS FOR ALL NORTHEAST OHIO BEER DRINKERS. SAM MCNULTY AND HIS GROUP HAVE TAKEN OVER ALL OPS AT WILLOUGHBY BREWING COMPANY. NEW BREWER, NEW LINES, NEW BEER, NEW EVERYTHING. FIRST BEER OUT IS A BLACK RYE. THEY WILL BE IN A PARTNERSHIP TO DISBRIBUTE TO 12 LOCALES IN NORTHEAST OHIO.

I got that 2nd BTW from my brother last night. Him and I are good friends with the gentleman who is the manager/beer rep for 1899 and Ballantine. Privy to all their special beers when they do beer tours and info that usually isn't public knowledge in regards to breweries and brews(they talk to brewmasters and distributors all over the country).

I grew up in Willoughby and I can still stumble home to my parents house if necessary when out with friends. I'm friends with some of the group that run Oliver Twist and Nicklebys, so when I get over there we usually hit up WBC on our tour. I've always thought that their beers were good, but not great the way I consider GLBC to be.

Are the new beers already there is is the change just starting to happen? Is this a good think for WBC? What is your opinion of their old line?

A buddy of mine runs a liqour store that specializes in the hard to find. A make a call and slip him a few bucks and a couple weeks later I have cases of ice cold brew straight from the Honkey Motherland.

My advice is to check liqour stores, especially ones you would drive past most of the time. A quick look around and you might find some rare stuff.

A while back I found a little dumpy hood store that had 3 cases of Spaten Okotberfest just hanging out waitin' for me to show up.

Personally, this time of year I lean towards darker, heavier stuff that is less appealing in the warmer months. Imperial stouts, dopplebocks, oatmeal stouts, big porters, barleywines, belgian quads/dark ales......

EDIT: If you want the best brown ale on earth, find some Hook and Ladder Backdraft Brown. Rouge Hazelnut Brown is fantastic as well, but leans towards the sweet side. Very much a dessert beer, but easy to drink.

Yep, had that when they first started shipping it to NEO in 2009. Very solid considering baltics are a rare breed. I've only had 2-3 other ones. Victory makes a baltic that is big on ABV and is on the sweeter side not unlike Sam Smiths Tadcaster. That stuff is over the top sweet.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Thx. looking fwd to a trip to vintage estates in Boardman to procure some of these.

You end up going there, and if so, what did you imbibe?

No, went BW and stayed generic. Kinda lame, I admit. I am a fan of Noble Pils. What can I say?

If you ever intend to head down this way, PM me. They are expanding the tasting room again.

I did try a sampler case from a PA beer distributor called "Full Pint Brewery" out of North Versailles PA. Really good & fresh IPA & amber ale. Typically nasty overspiced winter ale though. Small batch craft of 5 local microbrewers in W PA, incl North Country brweing out of Slippery Rock.

With the wind chill this morning being around '0', figured my fellow NEO'ans would like to keep themselves warm over the weekend. I highly suggest grabbing a bottle of Alesmith Speedway Stout. Best impy stout on the planet IMO. Had another magnum last night and its the same level of greatness each and every time.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

RickNashEquilibrium wrote:With the wind chill this morning being around '0', figured my fellow NEO'ans would like to keep themselves warm over the weekend. I highly suggest grabbing a bottle of Alesmith Speedway Stout. Best impy stout on the planet IMO. Had another magnum last night and its the same level of greatness each and every time.

I might see about that one tonight.

I don't think I'm much for doublebocks, too sweet for me. The Celebrator and Troeg-whatever were a little bit of a let down, but that's just my taste I guess.

Yep, had that when they first started shipping it to NEO in 2009. Very solid considering baltics are a rare breed. I've only had 2-3 other ones. Victory makes a baltic that is big on ABV and is on the sweeter side not unlike Sam Smiths Tadcaster. That stuff is over the top sweet.

This is a pretty damn good one, (it was on the far right of my big pic from last weekend) I didn't even know it was a baltic porter until I looked it up a week after drinking it the first time a couple weeks ago, so IMO it isn't nearly as thick as the SM version.

Maybe its the style I don't like, just thought it tasted awful. In I way I'm not entirely sure how to describe.

Coz, the brewers at Stone really mean it when they say the 10/10/10 is meant to be aged 2 years. Its brewed with a german grape and is absolutely meant to be cellared. This batch when opened new will have no where near the fermentation needed to showcase the depth of the ingredients. I have one aging right now and am determined to not touch it until winter 2012.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Maybe its the style I don't like, just thought it tasted awful. In I way I'm not entirely sure how to describe.

Coz, the brewers at Stone really mean it when they say the 10/10/10 is meant to be aged 2 years. Its brewed with a german grape and is absolutely meant to be cellared. This batch when opened new will have no where near the fermentation needed to showcase the depth of the ingredients. I have one aging right now and am determined to not touch it until winter 2012.

I realize that now, I was reading about it online after I posted and started seeing comments about aging, and then I saw that it is supposed to be aged.

I will grab one more, and stash it. Or talk my budding into it.

That Gubna, though was really freakin good, IMO, a notch above 90 min IPA IYAM. I just got back from the store a min ago, went back to grab a 4-pack after I drank that first one.

No one drinking lately? Weak. Last week I cracked open a bottle of Southern Tier Choklat which I cellared for a year. Boozyness was gone, all that what left was pure chocolately greatness. Easily on of the most enjoyable drinking sessions I've ever had.

Get some.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

RickNashEquilibrium wrote:No one drinking lately? Weak. Last week I cracked open a bottle of Southern Tier Choklat which I cellared for a year. Boozyness was gone, all that what left was pure chocolately greatness. Easily on of the most enjoyable drinking sessions I've ever had.

Get some.

I've been drinking lately....been enjoying Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre. Not sure what the local's opinion of Dogfish is, but the Raison hits me just right after I get the kids in bed. Think it sits around 8% ABV, and a few of them before bed does me good.

motherscratcher wrote:Damn RNE, I don't know how I missed this post. Yes I'm jealous. How was it this year?

I was just at Winking Lizard in Avon and they had this on tap.

First time I had it. Beer was good. Name is even better. I dug it.

Brother Thelonius is ok in my book. Not my favorite abbey double, but it has a unique spicyness to it that reminds me more of a belgian dark ale than a dubbel.

The Corsendonk is great this year. Pretty consistent compared to the past 2 years. It was my bday this weekend so my dad and I went to Save-On in mentor and had a shopping spree. Ill post a few pictures of my findings when I get home tonight. If you like Quads or Belgian Dark Ales, pick up a bottle of this stuff below. I think I might like it better than Trappist Rochefort 10 which is one of the highest rated beers on Beeradvocate. Its Goudon Carolus Cuvee Van de Keizer.

"All Beckett needs to do to cap off this mess is order some fried chicken and beer" – 5/10/12 before Beckett got chased in the 3rd at Fenway.

Highlight was finding a brand new style of beers I had no idea even existed :Soul Ales, in particular, Flanders Red.

Rodenbach Vintage 2008 = Awesome.

EDIT: Photos were cut off a bit, but 140 begians on tap, 500 bottles available as well....was pretty awesome.

Tried alot of sour ales, My highlights were finding that Flanders red, and some dark Saisons, which were excellent IMO. Also, tried a winter spiced ale that was eerily similar to X-mas ale but not quite as sweet...I hold X-mas ale in high regard but dare I say that I liked this just a tad better....heresy I know.

Poster coming in

My wife (to left) and friend having a blast....dont know if I have one of myself..

Cerebral_DownTime wrote:"There should not be chocolate in beer"- Jesus Christ

So much folly in this statement. There is proof that the Aztecs and Mayans, especially families with upward mobility, frequently used Cacoa in many of their fermented concoctions. They produced this by fermenting the pulp around the seeds which became a frothy, spicy substance not unlike beer. Ergo, Christ doesn't hold a candle to the folks occupying Puerto Escondido 3100 years ago.

Highlight was finding a brand new style of beers I had no idea even existed :Soul Ales, in particular, Flanders Red.

Rodenbach Vintage 2008 = Awesome.

Did you get to try any Lambics (blended or unblended), Gueuzes, or Biere de Garde?

I tried one or two Lambics, and had before the festival, I enjoyed them but not nearly as much as the Flanders Red I tried this weekend.

No on the Gueuzes or Biere de Garde....I think Saisons, Winter Spiced Ales, and Sour Ales are what I drank mostly, although things get a little fuzzy at the end and I somehow lost my "scorecard" so to speak, so I can't be sure.